Port Ellen 19 Years Old 1982 Cask #573 (The Bottlers)

Single malt Port Ellen, an independent The Bottlers bottling, aged 19 year old, from 1982, drawn from cask 573 and bottled at 59.5%. Port Ellen was dating to 1825 on the windswept south of Islay and shut by DCL in 1983. Annual Special Releases through Diageo sealed its mythic status.

The malt was peated hard over Islay peat cut from Duich Moss, giving a coastal smoke threaded with lemon. The spirit was distilled in copper pot stills with water from the lochs. Maturation in Oloroso sherry laid smoked dried fruit over the peat. Around two decades in oak knit the smoke with the wood into a maritime, citrus edged malt. The peat phenols fade only slowly, which is why even very old Port Ellen keeps its smoke. The closed years only deepened the legend around the malt. A whisky measured now in dwindling casks rather than fresh spirit.

At a hearty 59.5% it carries real weight. The Oloroso brings smoked fig, raisin and walnut, and light oak sweetness underneath, while a briny peat smoke carries brine, wax and a mineral edge. A lanolin wax and a coastal salinity give it real weight. Deep and elegant, the smoke lingers long. This is a vanishing dram from Islay's most storied closed distillery.